November 2024 | Issue 55
Paid Family & Medical Leave premium rates change starting Jan. 1, 2025
Premiums, collected from employees and employers through quarterly reporting, fund the Paid Leave program. By law, the Employment Security Department (ESD) recalculates the Paid Leave premium rate annually in October. We adjust the premium rate based on premiums contributed and benefits paid during the previous year.
Starting Jan. 1, 2025:
- The premium rate will increase to 0.92%.
- Employers will pay 28.48% of the total premium and employees will pay 71.52%.
- Businesses classified by ESD as having fewer than 50 employees for the 2025 calendar year are not required to pay the employer portion of the premium. However, you must still collect the employee premium or pay employees’ premiums on their behalf.
Next steps for employers
- Notify your employees the new rate applies to wages paid on or after Jan. 1, 2025. We will update the employer toolkit, mandatory poster and paystub insert in early November. These resources are available on the Employer Roles and Responsibilities page on the Paid Leave website.
- On Jan. 1, 2025, start collecting the new premium rate each pay period from your employees’ total gross wages, not including tips. Once an employee meets the Social Security cap, you need to stop collecting premiums but continue to report their wages. The Social Security cap for the 2025 calendar year will increase to $176,100.
- First quarter premiums using the new rate are due by the end of April 2025. Remember: You cannot retroactively withhold premiums from employees.
Learn more on our website
We will have more updated resources available online for you and your employees. By the end of the year, visit the Updates page on the Paid Leave website for:
- An updated premium estimator.
- Premium rate calculations.
- More reporting information for you.
Unemployment insurance:
You might want to request standby for your laid off workers
“Standby” is a program that waives job search requirements while workers collect unemployment benefits. It applies when you plan to temporarily lay off an employee or group of employees.
You can request standby for employees who have a probable return-to-work date within eight weeks (56 days) of the date of the request. But you need to make the request within eight weeks of the last day they worked with you.
Three ways to request standby
- The "Request for Separation Information" form we send to you when a worker has applied for unemployment benefits.
- A letter emailed to esdgpuiintakeissues@esd.wa.gov. Include:
- First and last name of each employee.
- Claim ID of each employee.
- Dates of the standby period.
How you and workers will receive standby decisions
ESD will send workers and employers a standby decision in the mail or email.
- If approved, standby begins with the date ESD received the request.
- If denied, the employee must look for work as required, but the requester can appeal our decision.
Go to the Employment Security Department website to learn more about standby.
Join a webinar to learn new ways to build your workforce
The Career Connect Washington (CCW) team invites you to a webinar with two of Washington’s industry associations shaping the state’s future workforce.
The Washington Bankers Association and AGC Education Foundation are using career connected learning programs to build sustainable talent pipelines and support employers statewide. Come and hear what they have to say!
Industry associations can coordinate work-based learning programs and other career connected learning opportunities for Washington’s young people. These training programs can build sustainable and diverse talent pools for employers who need to fill high-demand or hard-to-fill roles.
At this virtual event, we will:
- Learn from the Washington Bankers Association and the AGC Education Foundation, who are sector leaders for Career Connect Washington. Read more on the Sector Leaders page of the CCW website.
- Learn about the decades of successful labor/employer partnership through registered apprenticeship.
The CCW is a statewide initiative that creates talent solutions for employers and work-based learning for students. It brings together business, labor, education and community members to support the state’s workforce needs.
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